The Rooftop is nice, but how about a winning Colorado Rockies team?

Rockies owner Dick Monfort talks with reporters during a tour of Coors Field’s new Rooftop area. The team removed 3,500 seats in right field to make way for the $10 million addition. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Although The Rooftop party deck at Coors Field is a nice addition for Rockies fans, I would be more impressed if Dick Monfort would “pizazz it up” with better players on the field. The odds are slim for the Monforts to ever build a World Series-winning team with the Colorado Rockies.

Jim Osse, Centennial

This letter was published in the April 7 edition.

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The picture above looks like any number of photos in Google Images for “Dick Monfort”.
So,
1) It’s a liberal media conspiracy.
or
2) Google was referring to Dick Monfort, a roof layer and aluminum siding salesman living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
or
3) You’re wrong.

I bet you’ll go with 1).

Dano2

It’s that cheap troll’s pattern: make up any old sh– just to have something opposite to say.

Best,

D

ChrisInDenver

9/11 conspiracy? 😉

Dano2

This old Michigander can tell you that teams dupe their fans into spending money all the time. The Lions have been cr@ptacular for years, yet gullible Detroiters have been wasting their money for decades. No intent by Wm Clay Ford III to field a winner, which is why Barry Sanders walked away.

So, Caveat Rockyor.

Best,

D

ChrisInDenver

I wish he would have stayed one more year to get the record. I still think he’s the best RB of all time….especially considering the team he had to endure.

Dano2

Word. I’m not a football fan (thanks Wm Clay Ford) but used to watch Lions solely to see Barry run.

Best,

D

ChrisInDenver

I was the same with with Michael Jordan and the NBA. I would tune in to watch a Bulls game just to see him. Hate to admit it, but I’ll watch Tiger if he’s leading a golf tournament too. Won’t watch otherwise…

peterpi

Mr.Osse, that rooftop party deck probably cost less than a very good ballplayer.
The Monforts have shown over the years that if they can get fans’ buns in the seats with a little flash and pizzazz rather than pay for good players, they will.

ChrisInDenver

And the fans keep coming, making the Rocks quite profitable. They are a great tourist draw in the summer even when the team stinks. You’re spot on.

peterpi

“in the summer even when the team stinks …”

The team experience the past few years indicates you should replace “even” with “, which is especially”.

primafacie

The Giants signed pitcher Tim Hudson for roughly $11 million per season and re-signed pitcher Tim Lincecum for about $12 million per. Pitchers Matt Garza and Bronson Arroyo got similar contracts from the Brewers and Diamondbacks, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Rockies spent $10 million on … a concession stand. More, actually, considering they removed seats representing potential ticket revenue. The Rockies, who lack pitchers who can throw strikes, apparently concluded that enough of their fan base is more interested in beer, apple-tinis and hot wings than in a pitcher who can throw strikes.

peterpi

Dipping Dots, hot dogs, pretzels, etc.
For all practical purposes, that $10 million was spent just once. The deck will need annual maintenance costs, but those costs are far less than the original $10 mil.
Meanwhile, a top notch pitcher gets that $10 mil or so year after year …
Um, did I mention the Monforts were cheap?

ChrisInDenver

It’s also a capital improvement and really has nothing to do with the team payroll.

Dano2

High-end concessions in modern ballparks are an important source of revenue. Team success – especially here – not so much as long as people show up to consume entertainment experiences.

Best,

D

ChrisInDenver

See also: $9 beers.

Dano2

Lincecum, Garza and Arroyo IMHO aren’t worth that much. Just because salaries are out of control doesn’t mean the spending is justified. Kershaw will likely pitch his arm out before his contract is up. His mechanics are going to wear him out.

Best,

D

primafacie

Pitching costs what it costs, worth what someone is willing to pay. The going rate for proven, solid pitchers is what it is. The alternative is betting that rookies and scrubeenies will produce the same, which has been a poor bet for the Rockies.

Dano2

The going rate was jacked up by the Yankees and now Dodgers. There’s no utopian free market in baseball. The alternative is either to pay that money, get some quality staff to find the best talent – a la Oakland, or be the Rockies who do neither.

To be fair, those sections were usually empty anyway. Agree with the rest, though.

primafacie

I might argue that they wouldn’t be empty if the Rockies put better pitching on the field.

peterpi

They’d rather blame the rarified air at Coors Field.
Strange that the wheezing-for-breath, sea-level opposing pitchers have no problems blanking the Rockies’ at bats.

primafacie

Indeed. But I’ll acknowledge that even Tim Lincecum at the height of his powers has had bad days at Coors.

holyreality

The thin mile high air is cruel to pitchers, how many high dollar free agent pitchers have come to Denver only to stink up the mound?

Money will not solve this problem.

primafacie

Not solve it, but it’s a step in the right direction. The issue is assembling a big-league pitching staff. When starters better than what you have come available, that’s what they cost. Tim Hudson and Bronson Arroyo aren’t exactly “high-dollar” pitchers. The going rate for pitchers of that caliber is $10 million to $12 million. Clayton Kershaws and Cliff Lees run much higher.

Instead the Rockies try to pass off Wilton Lopezes and Adam Ottavinos as big-league pitchers. Meanwhile, the Giants and Dodgers and Diamondbacks, their direct competition, have home-grown and free-agent pitchers that put the Rockies to shame.

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